Turkey’s New Protest Icon: Standing Man

Turkish protesters stand on Taksim Square during a Standing Man protest in Istanbul, June 18, 2013.

ISTANBUL—Turkey’s nationwide protests, which grabbed headlines with images of police violence and protesters’ creativity, have produced the oddest of icons. The most recent addition is no exception.

As the sun was setting on Monday, Standing Man appeared on Istanbul’s iconic Taksim Square, the epicenter of anti-government protests that have roiled Turkey since May 31. With security forces keeping a tight watch over Taksim, 34-year-old performance artist Erdem Gunduz walked to the middle of the square, stuck his hands in the pockets of his gray pants, and assumed a stoic stance that lasted about eight hours.

Within a short period of time, he was the hottest thing on Twitter–not only in Turkey, but for a brief period also worldwide.

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Riot police had fired copious amounts of teargas to clear and secure the area over the weekend, seeking to bring an end to protests that started in adjacent Gezi Park and spread across the country after the police’s heavy-handed response turned an environmental sit-in into massive demonstrations.

Still shell-shocked from two days of fierce clashes with the police, and looking for a peaceful way to extend the protests in their third week, people started arriving at Taksim Square to join Mr. Gunduz.

European Pressphoto Agency

Click the photo above to see a slideshow of the silent protests.

Next, Standing Woman appeared at the Kizilay Square in Ankara, where a protester was fatally shot. And the passive resistance spread like wildfire, and even abroad to Paris and London.

“I took part in the Gezi Park protests, but the police became more and more savage, and we changed strategy. We want to continue to draw attention here,” said Ayca, a 17-year-old student who had been standing at the square at about 4 p.m. in Istanbul. “I came here at two o’clock, I don’t even know what time it is now.”

Since Monday night, a shifting group of standing men and women has been pressing ahead with the silent demonstration. For many, it may mark a break from the violent confrontations with the police and a peaceful method to register their opposition to Prime Minister Receop Tayyip Erdogan, who protesters say is becoming increasingly authoritarian.

“May God grant them salvation,” said a police officer as he watched the crowd gather. “Silent protests are good, they can stand and protest as long as they want so long as they don’t wreak havoc.”

By Tuesday evening in Istanbul, several hundred people were standing quietly, some of them holding hands as they faced Ataturk Cultural Center, the arts building which security forces cleared of protesters’ banners and donned with two large Turkish flags and a portrait of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the republic’s revered founder.

In front of the cultural center, security forces lounged underneath big umbrellas, facing the protesters. Behind them were lined up teargas canisters.

“Of course they’re not going to attack these guys, how can you justify teargassing people for staring at a building draped with Turkish flags and Ataturk’s picture,” said a middle-aged woman with dyed blond hair who declined to be identified.

The Standing Man’s protest came as a breath of fresh air. Most demonstrators have lost their creative, humorous touch and dug in at barricades to combat the authorities amid escalating tensions over the weekend.

Pushed out of Taksim Square and with their commune at Gezi Park destroyed, some dreary protesters had feared the end of their movement, which had triggered a flurry of creativity that had comical and absurd heroes at its heart.

First came toy penguins that people brought, drew on walls, and put on their t-shirts, an allusion to the decision of CNN’s Turkish affiliate to broadcast a documentary on the stout, flightless birds while clashes erupted across the country.

Next was the Çapulcu, meaning riffraff, which became the widely adopted protester phrase after the prime minister labeled them as such. In a short period, the adjective evolved into a word and a noun, with demonstrators establishing a Çapulcu Movement Party for all “chapullers” to keep “chapulling.”

And there were others who popped up like Superman at times of need, like Talcidman, the gas-mask wearing protester hailed as a people’s hero for spraying a fluid to help people alleviate the sting of teargas.

Standing Man may yet change the course of protests and signal the peaceful resistance that Mr. Erdogan faces in the future.

“Someone else could have been the one to stand,” Mr. Gunduz, the artist, was quoted as saying in a message posted on social media sites. “Standing Man is not just one person!”

I have respect for your viewpoint and I am happy with my religion. Thanks for your comment, I will look for more information about Ziya Gökalp's words. Selametle kal.

7:31 pm June 21, 2013

Anonymous wrote:

Sometimes, politicians have to say things that they have to say, not because they believe in those. Its called pragmatism. You are now learning, and I know, that none of those are true, nor Ataturk believed in them. Here is something for you, from Ziya Gokalp (my translation): "Among the ancient Turks, religion was free from strict ceremonies, perverse forms of worship, bigotry, and monopolization; therefore, it made them very tolerant towards women and other nations." By ancient Turks, he means before Islam. I hope you can figure out the rest.

3:42 pm June 21, 2013

@Anonymous wrote:

One final comment about my thoughts about Ataturk: I know Ataturk more than you and like him more than anyone else.
"Without Ataturk, we would have been ignorant, purely muslim, and a colony."
Yes, I know it and agree with you.
The fact that I like my religion (Islam) does not mean that I am against democracy or secularism. I am also happy with democracy and secularism.

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